Two bodies of drowned traders found in L. Victoria

Mar 09, 2012

After a thorough search mounted on Lake Victoria for the 13 bodies of traders who drowned in the lake last week, two of them were retrieved on Wednesday.

By Henry Nsubuga

After a thorough search mounted on Lake Victoria for the 13 bodies of traders who drowned in the lake last week, two of them were retrieved on Wednesday.

The bodies of John Lusongoza, alias Savimbi and Balunabba were recovered by fishermen in the Bugaya sub-county in Buvuma district.

The boat which was carrying fifteen traders and their merchandise capsized in the lake as it sailed from Ssenyi landing site in Buikwe district to Luwero landing site in Buvuma district.

Only two of the boat occupants, Matthias Kakooza and Bernard Kizza survived the accident.

Kakooza is a resident of Kateete village in Najja sub-county in Buikwe district and Kizza is from Nak awaali village in Ssi Bukunja sub-county in the same district.alt=''

Three unidentified suspected Congo nationals are among those still missing. Others are Ayubu Tayire , Mutabaazi, Alamanzani Musana, Edward Ziwaani, Wafula, Siraje, and others.

Sgt. Milton Ecopa from the Marine Police said that they are still carrying out the operations in the hope of finding the remaining 11 bodies.

He cited the major challenge in their operation as the search area being “so large”. A team of Marine Police have spent over a full week looking for the dead in the lake.

The retrieved bodies are still being kept at Muwama landing site in Bugaya sub-county as the relatives of the deceased camped at Ssenyi landing site for burial arrangements.

 Buvuma district Member of Parliament Robert Migadde joined the operation on Thursday and asked the government to provide fuel to the fishermen who are helping in the search.

Migadde said that the fishermen have worked hard to look for their fellows who capsized and that they use a lot of fuel.

"They have spent over five days searching and in a day, they consume more than two hundred litres of petrol.  Government should think of these local fishermen who are familiar with the lake and moreover they are the ones who found these two bodies," he said.

He also requested the government to think of reducing the dues levied on the imported life jackets so that their prices can be reduced on the market to allow all the fishermen and lake users afford them.

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